Losing Her Grace
by FeJoy29
Summary: She's having a meltdown, she can't think, and she can't sleep, and she won't let anyone help her. He feels her pain and the look on her face is killing him. All he wants is for her to confide in him; to let him help her. He wants to save her. Troyella.
1. This Needs to End

**AN: Here I am with another short story for you guys! I really hope that you like it and that it doesn't bore you; I'm really excited about this story and where I see it going. All I can say is that it's going to get good.**_**Real good **_**;) Tell me what you think of it and review!!**

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**Loosing Her Grace**

**Chapter 1**

If you asked any high school student inside of any high school what their favorite time of the school day was, you would always get the same answer: lunch. For 25 minutes every day, it was a time where school, work, homework, cranky teachers, and unfair assignments didn't have to be dealt with. It was a chance to sit back, relax, eat some food, talk about your plans for the weekend, and just breath.

There was a tray full of food sitting in front of him, loud conversations around him, the latest test and quizzes being discussed, and many opportunities for him to but into any of them and speak his own opinion. There were many opportunities for him to enjoy himself; but he couldn't, that was impossible at the moment.

His eyes were silently begging a certain someone to talk to him, to just _talk_to him. One hand was on either side of his face as he stared deeply across the circular red lunch table with his elbows propping them up. His eyes were on her and only her, and there was nothing that could break his gaze. For the past three weeks it had been this exact way and why he hadn't done something already to change that he didn't know, but enough was enough. Seeing her this way was tearing him to shreds, keeping him up all night, causing his basketball skills to suffer, and he was now tuning out all of his other friends and his teachers. All he could think about was Gabriella and what she was doing to herself. More importantly, all he could think about was the fact that he had no freaking clue what was even going on with her in the first place and why she was being the way that she was.

On the other side of the table, his crystal blue eyes could certainly be felt on her, but she still refused to look up. If she did, she would have to face his questioning and desperate eyes, eyes that she knew she could easily fall for. There was enough on her plate as it was, and to have to stop to explain it all to someone just wouldn't fit in her already hectic schedule.

She knew she was slowly but surely killing him, breaking his heart as she repeatedly turned him down and "missed" his calls. It had become clear as day three weeks ago when it first started; the very first day he knew something was stressing her out and he asked her about it. All she did was shrug her arm free from his grasp, slam her locker shut, and start her lonely walk home. The coldness and aggravation in her eyes didn't go unmissed by him either, making him even more worried than what he already was.

So on the opposite side of the table sat a girl in distress, a girl who just needed a break but would never allow herself that luxury, and across from her sat her best friend going insane from the lack of openness she was having with him.

Before either of them knew it the lunch bell rang inside of the large cafeteria and Troy was brought back to reality; school. Slowly he removed his tired body from the table and brought his hands down to discard his untouched lunch. His eyes never left her restless body the entire time as he moved around to gather up his books and move in her direction following her to their next class together.

The entire trip down the hallway she would walk with a frown on her face and her arms crossed in front of her, trying her best to ignore all of the friendly hellos from passing students. She was well aware that he was six steps behind her; but she ignored it and kept moving. When she finally arrived to their class, she would take her usual seat at the back desk with Troy to the right of her.

Instead of listening to the teacher, Troy focused his attention on the beautiful girl sitting next to him who was clearly in distress. The urge to confront her about what was going on again was overpowering; if it wasn't for a small amount of self-control that he had, he would have pushed back his chair and asked her forcefully right then and there.

But he didn't; he sat back and watched his friend buried way beneath all of the books, all of the stress, all of the pressure. She never once showed any emotion on her face though. Not once did she show sadness, anger or stress. It was almost as if she had no hope left that things could get better.

And as her best friend, it was definitely his job to change that.

Soon enough Troy heard the obnoxious bell ring through the classroom signaling the end of the school day and everyone was frantically shoving his or her belongings into their backpacks. Troy just stood back and watched Gabriella quickly gather her belongings, apparently in a rush to get out of the school and go home.

Taking a risky move, Troy outstretched his hand and grabbed her arm to stop her from moving any further. 'Gabi'

She just looked down at his hand on her arm and brought her now narrow eyes up to reach Troy's hopeful ones. That look alone was enough for Troy to quickly remove his hand from her small arm. 'Please… just talk to me.'

'I have to get home.'

It was only five words, but it was still a start. 'Let me drive you, I know your mom's working late. Please?'

'I'd rather you didn't.'

'Gabi…'

She had already turned her back to him and was walking out the classroom door and down the long and narrow hallway leading to the front doors. Snapping back to his senses, his feet started to move as he quickly ran after her. 'Gabi!' Surely he heard him, seeing how everyone else in the school did as he screamed her name. But she didn't budge; didn't flinch; didn't react at all to his desperate voice.

'Come on!' He turned his body with enough power behind him to slam his fist into the locker beside him, the sound of his flesh hitting hard and cold metal echoed through the hallway. 'Shit' He examined his hand for a few seconds, noticed the bright red and swelling knuckles, shoved his hand in his pocket, and ran to his car with rage on his mind.

A bystander would look at the way he was moving his car and think that the driver was either out for blood or trying to show off. In a matter of seconds Troy had thrown his books into his car, not caring where they landed, put his car in reverse, put it back into drive and floored the gas pedal exiting the parking lot with a tornado of dust behind him.

Being this angry was definitely not the best way to go and approach Gabriella, so instead he headed home, a home that was only three houses down from Gabriella's.

As he drove by her house like a mad man, he could tell that no one had gone home yet as there was a package on their front porch. Yanking the steering wheel with one hand to the right, his black Audi flew up his driveway and came to a screeching halt as he slammed on his breaks. Not caring about his books, Troy angrily threw open his car door and made his way up his front porch, completely seeing but ignoring the mail sitting on the swing. He threw open the heavy front door and still managed to slam it shut, causing the foyer to shake.

Troy made his way into his kitchen throwing his keys on the granite counter top before rushing over to the sink. Finally bringing his hand up to his face to examine it for the first time, he couldn't help but wince at the sight of it. With an array of colors spread all over his hand, dry blood was still visible and his knuckles were twice the size that they should be. He just rolled his eyes and opened his freezer. After setting a frozen bag of peas on it, he marched his way out of the kitchen and up the back stairs to his bedroom.

Once again, another door was thrown open and slammed shut before he dropped his body down on his perfectly made bed, courtesy of his mother of course. He covered his eyes with his right arm and let his left hand rest on his chest with the bag of peas on top of it.

All Troy could think about was Gabriella and what could have possibly gotten into her. She had never looked at him the way that she did today. No matter what happened, she would always soften when he was around. Troy had that special way with her; if she was ever stressed out he would just go and put his arms around her small waist and her body would immediately relax. But for her to just turn on him like that? That was insane. It was out of character, and frankly, it really pissed him off.

Frustration was steaming out of his ears so he removed his arm from his eyes and sat up quickly. The first thing that came into his eyesight was of course a picture of her. Him and her actually.

It was a newer picture of the two of them on their vacation to the Bahamas that they had gone on with both of their families that previous summer. They were in the ocean at one of the most breathtaking beaches Troy had ever been to. Troy was giving Gabriella a piggyback ride to the shore and water was streaming down both of their bodies. Her smile couldn't get any bigger and neither could his. A few seconds after his mother took this picture, Gabriella had leaned forward to give him a huge wet-wily on his cheek and immediately after Troy's body came crashing down to the soft sand with Gabriella on top of him.

To say the least, that was the _best _vacation he had _ever_ been on.

Just thinking about all of their good times helped to lower Troy's temper. He felt his body slowly start to relax and he even let go of the painful fist he was holding.

'This needs to end.'

**AN: This chapter seemed kind of short to me, but I really only wanted to focus on Troy and there wasn't anything else that I could put in this chapter. This will be a Troyella, in case any of you were wondering. Please tell me your honest opinion, whether it's one word or a million! And check out all of my other stories too, they're really good. I have a new one out called ****I'd Lie****. Check them out, and review!! **

**FiFi xoxo**


	2. Communicate

**AN: I don't think I got a chance to respond to everyone's reviews for the last chapter, and if I didn't I just want to say thank you ALL from the bottom of my heart. I got 12 reviews for the first chapter, and that made me so happy. Would it be too much to shoot for 13 for this chapter? Oh.. and this chapter is dedicated to unknownbyhim22. Enjoy and review...**

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**Losing Her Grace **

**Chapter 2**

A permanent frown was embedded on Gabriella Montez's face, and it had been that way for three weeks. Three weeks ago there was a knock on her front door and the person behind it was a person she didn't even know existed: her grandmother. Her very _snobby_ grandmother. It was her fathers mother, a woman she had never even heard about before. Her mother wasn't home at the time, so Gabriella was forced to be grilled all by herself by her grandmother and her intruding questions, like what she planned to do with the rest of her life.

She was a Junior in High School, and up to this point all she was focusing on was making the High Honor Roll every term, and maybe going to look at college's in the Guidance Library if she had some free time. But to seriously look into any college and consider spending four years of her life there was never one of her top priorities.

But Mrs. Montez made it _very_ clear to her that she needed to start making it one of her top priorities; or else she would be paying for college all by herself. It was strange actually; because that was always what she thought would happen. She had no idea that she had a grandmother or that her long lost grandmother was planning on paying for her education. Gabriella and her mother had never actually sat down and discussed what would happen, but she was sure that it wouldn't be a major problem when they did. Now that she had someone threatening her to do only her very best in school, Gabriella couldn't seem to find the time to do anything else. All of her priorities had changed, her moods had gone haywire, and her social life was basically none existent. Thank you grandmother!

So now as she laid on her bedroom floor, holding her body up with her elbows and reading a book beneath her, all she could think about suddenly was everything she was giving up; everything she was living without right now; all the happiness she could be feeling was no where in sight. Instead she was completely miserable and would give anything to be hanging out with her friends right now. More importantly Troy. Anything; she would give anything.

Outside of Gabriella's little world was a boy desperate to figure out what was wrong with his best friend; his better half; his everything.

Swinging one leg over the white railing on her balcony, and soon followed by the other one, Troy thankfully succeeded in climbing up her tree and to her room once more; he was definitely becoming a pro at it by now.

He stared into the glass of the French doors and found her small and perfect body laying lazily on her bedroom floor with her eyes dead straight on the book below her. Even though her eyes were on the book, he could easily tell that she wasn't even close to actually reading the words on the pages of the book, but rather her mind was thinking deeply of something else; something that was troubling her.

Seeing her like this was tearing him to shreds. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms, kiss her forehead, and tell her that everything would be okay. He wanted to comfort her because that was his job; it was his duty to protect her. Ever since he could remember he was always the one to rescuer her, to wipe her tears, to kick her bully's asses, to make her laugh when she was down, and to just _be_ there. And he didn't mind one bit, it was something he actually looked forward to, it was something that made him feel needed and wanted. It made him feel love; love for her.

After studying her gorgeous figure for quite a bit of time, Troy finally lifted up his hand to knock on the glass door. Immediately he saw her shocked and scared face turn around to face him and he swore he saw her frown become even bigger, something he was not expecting at all. She stared at him for a few moments before she got up on her two feet and made her way over to the door and to him. She didn't open the door though, or even put her hand on it. All she did was stare tiredly at his desperate figure waiting for him to say something. On the other side of the door however, Troy stood impatiently waiting for _her_ to say something.

Finally the silence was broken by Gabriella. 'I'm busy Troy.' She turned her body around and started to make her way back to where her books were. 'No! Gabriella, come on!' yelled Troy as he pounded on the glass.

Her feet came to an abrupt halt at the tone in his voice; she could tell he was breaking and it was all her fault.

'Just let me in. _Please_.'

'Troy I'm bu-'

'Busy, I get it. Well guess what Gabriella? That excuse isn't going to work for me ever again. I can't deal with this any more. Please, _please_, just open the door. I'm begging you! Would you like me to get down on my knees just to prove how desperate I am? Because I will, and you of all people should kno-'

'All right! God Troy.'

She stormed over to her French doors once again and angrily yanked the doors open. 'Great, now you're pissed, just what I need.' Troy just couldn't win with her.

'Do you want to talk to me or just spend your time complaining? I don't have all day you know, I have things t-' Suddenly a scream escaped her mouth as she felt her small body being lifted up in the air and landing softly on Troy's strong and muscular shoulder. With one arm wrapped securely around her legs and the other hand resting with a strong hold on her butt, he protectively held her body close to his with confidence that she would never fall.

'TROY! What are you doing! Let me go! Put me down! Troy! Are you even freaking listening to me?! Troy!

All he could do was move one foot in front of the other as he made his way out of her bedroom, down the stairs, and out her front door. Her legs were flailing and her fists were hitting his back repeatedly. Anger was steaming out of her at an increasingly high rate, but Troy just chuckled at how adorable she was and kept on moving.

'Seriously Troy, what the fuck are you doing?'

'Just shut up and go with it Gabriella, you'll thank me later.'

'I _highly_ doubt that.'

'Gosh, just shut up already, I'm doing this for your own good.'

'Psshh, like you would know what's good for me,' she muttered under her breath.

Bam, talk about a stab to Troy's heart. How could she, Gabriella, _his Gabriella_, ever say that to him? What the hell had gotten into her?

Finally reaching his car, he opened the passenger door, carefully placed her body down in his passenger seat and ran over to the other side of the car where he got in.

'_Excuse me?_'

Her face was one of annoyance; clearly she had better things to do right now. '"Excuse me" what?'

'I just... you're fucking unbelievable.'

He was clearly pissed, at least more pissed right now then he has been these past few weeks. He shoved his keys into the ignition and started it up. After backing out of his driveway perfectly, he floored the gas pedal and directed his car to their final destination.

It was torture: sitting their with so much tension Troy was sure the windows were going to smash soon. She had her arms folded over her chest, her eyebrows were burrowed, and her jaw was so incredibly set straight, it must have been hard as a rock. She was pissed.

In the other seat sat Troy, dear old desperate and frustrated Troy. He seriously couldn't believe that this was happening. Sure, they had had their fights in the past, but this? This was ridiculous. All of a sudden, out of no where, she just changed. She ignored him, blew him off, blew everyone else off, and wouldn't even look at him. He didn't think that he was _that_ ugly.

His knuckles were turning white from the pressure he was applying to the steering wheel from all of his anger, but he kept on driving and pushing past the incredible pain in his right hand; his knuckles felt like they were going to fall off at any moment.

It was a long car ride to Troy's secret destination, and not once did either of them speak. Gabriella never took her eyes away from their current fixation, and Troy couldn't stop turning his head to look at her secretly hoping that she would feel his stare and turn to look back at him. But she never did, and she tore him to shreds once more.

Finally when Troy slammed on his breaks again and shifted the car into park, he felt the biggest urge to just get out of his car as fast as he could. Being in that hell hole was torture.

This time though he didn't carry her body out with him, instead he decided to leave that decision up to here. After all, he had carried her here against her will, he thought it would be nice of him to give her some say in all of this.

It took a while, but eventually Troy heard the sound of a car door shutting and it wasn't from him. He was sitting on the edge of a cliff, more specifically on the edge of Navajo Lake in New Mexico. He had driven three hours to get them both here. It was far away from their hometown, but it was well worth the drive. Navajo Lake was breathtaking, beautiful, and especially at sunset, it was inspirational.

Her feet on the dirt was heard in Troy's ears and when it stopped, he still didn't move his body. He made it clear that he needed her back, that he wanted his Gabriella back. He had already done more than enough, and now she needed to come to him.

It was a perfect day: the sun was just setting, the wind was blowing a breeze from the lake onto both of their faces, and it was warm out so they weren't shaking.

Troy sat there on the rough rocks waiting for her to leak some words out and to help start the process of fixing this screwed up mess that they were in, but he found himself waiting for a long time. No words came out of here mouth and it got to the point when Troy wondered if she had some how ran away or something. But soon after that crazy thought passed through her mind, he heard her feet pick up again and move along the rocks. Her body slowly and carefully sat down and settled beside Troy.

Again, there was silence, neither one of them willing to talk first. Troy was tired of fighting with her and tired of trying to confidence her to just talk to her. Never ever once in their friendship has communication been a problem between the two of them until now. Troy just sat there waiting for Gabriella to just open her mouth and talk to him. To just give up on whatever games she was playing and tell her what the hell was going on with her. But for some reason she didn't open her mouth, she didn't speak, she didn't communicate.

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**AN: There you go! Hope I didn't disappoint anyone. I was thinking, it doesn't seem that Troy and Gabi are in a relationship in this story, what would you like to see happen with them? Right now they're just best friends. And I'm going to try my hardest to finish the next chapter of I'd Lie, and if you haven't read it yet, you should probably go do that right now ;) Please review!!**

**FiFi xoxo**


	3. Save Me

**AN: Ehh, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. This is a warning that there is some bad language used in this chapter, so be warned. And don't complain about it in a review, because I'm clearly warning you right now. Sorry if it offends you. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think! Review and enjoy…**

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**Chapter 3 – Save Me**

'Why?'

…Still, all that could be heard was the wind blowing furiously around them, this little bit of weather foreshadowing the approach of a bad storm. Other than that it was complete silence.

Her head was down and she was sitting on her hands with her legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. Troy on the other hand couldn't keep his hands, legs, or anything for that matter still. He was nervous as hell as to what her problem was, and at the same time his anger was slowly rising; there was only so much more of this silence crap that he could take.

But he wasn't going to give up on her any time soon, so he persisted. 'Why won't you talk? Have you lost your voice in the last three weeks that you've shut me out of?'

Silence. This was _killing_ him.

'Gabriella!' He turned his entire body towards her and his eyes were burning right through her head that was still down. 'What the hell is your problem? Why won't you just talk to me, just fucking _talk_ to me? Do you hate me that freakin much?'

Her head brought itself up and rolled back as an annoyed and tired sigh left her mouth. Her hands escaped from under her legs and came to hold her head as her head fell back down again. With her elbows resting on her thighs, she let another sigh escape her mouth.

'I'm just-'

'No, Gabriella. I don't want to know what you are. I don't want to know that you're just really busy these days, or that you're just focusing on schoolwork, or that you're tired. I want to know why you think you can just ignore me for three weeks, _three weeks_, and think that that's okay. I want to know what the hell happened three weeks ago to make you forget all about me and my existence.'

Gosh, sometimes Troy just knew exactly how to nail it on the head. He could read Gabriella like he could play basketball. And he was known for making three pointers with his eyes closed.

'Things are just… they're just changing. Times flying by, and before we know it we're going to be seniors graduating High School. I'm just… I've been thinking about my future a lot more lately.'

All he could do was laugh. This was beyond ridiculous. She hadn't talked to him for three weeks because she's been thinking about her future? For goodness sakes, the least she could do was come up with a better excuse.

At the sound of his pissed off laugh, Gabriella picked up her body from the dirt ground and felt her anger surge up again. 'You know what Troy? If you don't want to take what I'm saying seriously or at least try to understand, then fine. But you asked me what was wrong, so I told you, and you laughed. You fucking _laughed! _Screw you Troy!'

With that she turned her body away from Troy and took off. Like, literally started to run away from him and go to god knows where. After all they were in some big lake and she didn't know her way around anywhere.

'What?' whispered Troy under his breath. Had she just run away from him?

Either way Troy suddenly found his feet moving once again as he sprang up from his sitting position and started in the direction that she had just gone. Fear had completely consumed his body worrying that she would hurt herself as she was running or that she'd get lost and he'd never be able to find her. Crap! Why had he brought her here and expected her to actually talk to him? He was so stupid sometimes.

A drop of water was suddenly felt on Troy's face and he knew it wasn't sweat. There was no way that it could start to rain right now, right now of all the times during the day. This was bad, really bad.

He kept running though and constantly screamed her name while turning his head in all directions. There was this slight pull in his chest telling him that something wasn't right, and this freaked him out to no end.

'Gabriella! Gabi! Where are you?!'

'_Shit_' mutter Troy under his breath as he kicked the dirt beneath his feet. This was one of his worst nightmares come true.

In what seemed like anther world, Gabriella's feet were still moving, and soon enough they wouldn't be able to move any more. Tears were streaming down her face and regret was spilling through her body. She knew that she shouldn't have just screamed at Troy and accused of him of not caring, because it was clearly evident that he did. He drove his car with her in complete silence for three hours; that has to mean something.

She knew that she had completely messed this up, and the way that she has been treating Troy was unfair. She shouldn't have ignored him for three weeks, she shouldn't have buried herself so much into her future, she shouldn't have let her grandmother get to her so much, she shouldn't have rejected Troy over and over again, and she shouldn't have not gone to him in the first place. If she had gone to him when all of this had first started, Troy would have listened to every single word that she had to say and then he would have given his perspective of it all and told her how he felt about it.

The bottom line is that he would have helped her; he would have been there for her; he was always there for her.

Man, was she _stupid_.

Raindrops could be felt on her shoulders as she picked up her speed, heading towards god only knows where. Troy and her had been to this lake numerous times in the past, but she was always with him if they ever went on a walk. He was always the one directing them to their destination, even if that destination wasn't exactly known yet. He would never let them get lost and he knew this lake incredibly well.

With the rainstorm came dark clouds, and with dark clouds came a loss of seeing where she was going, and with that came Gabriella's panic attack. She had no idea where she was and she didn't know if Troy would ever find her and save her from this disaster.

She wanted him to save her from all of her disasters.

He knew she didn't have her cell phone on her because she had left that in the car with everything else, including his own cell phone. Basically, it was just them and the wild. _Great._

Sweat was streaming down his face and his clothes were becoming wet from the rain. The sweat was from his running, but more from his growing fear in his stomach that something was going to, or already had, happened to her and he would never be able to forgive himself if something did.

In a more rocky part of the lake, Gabriella's legs were still running but were beginning to feel like jelly and she didn't know for how much longer she'd be able to control them. All her regrets were going through her head and making her feel extremely guilty towards Troy. The weird thing was that she knew if she felt guilty, then she should stop running and turn around to try and go back to Troy, wherever that may be. But for some reason her body wouldn't let her, it wanted to keep running.

She wasn't running from Troy anymore, she was running from her life; from what she wanted and didn't want; from reality.

It wasn't clear to her where she was anymore, but where ever it was it was getting harder to run through. Her feet were stumbling a bit over the rough nature and her wet clothes were weighing her down.

All of her energy had dissolved from her body and she knew that she couldn't do it any more; she couldn't run. One thing after another happened and the next thing she knew, she lost her footing, her ankle twisted in a way that it shouldn't, her body turned in the air and her hands landed in front of her to break the fall. A scream left her mouth and her body crashed down on top of the rocks, and pain immediately surged through her entire core. Her elbow had hit something sharp, her ankle was throbbing, she could feel numerous scratches on her body and some blood was trickling down her arm.

The cold air and her drenched clothes caused her to shiver uncontrollably and her eyes glazed over in tears from the pain. Her head was extremely lightheaded and dizzy and her body felt like it weighed as much as a car. She couldn't move.

Her body ached and she had never felt so tired before. Her heartbeat was astronomical and the heavy pounding of her heartbeat was the only thing that she could hear in her ears. She knew that she couldn't do anything to save herself and that it was up to Troy to attempt to find her, but she had faith in him and that would never go away. He was as dedicated to her as she was to him and they would never give up on one another, that's why Troy kept pestering her all three weeks to talk to him; he wanted to know what was wrong with her, he _needed _to know so he could sleep at night.

The fact that Troy wouldn't leave her alone even when she was being the coldest bitch possible really meant a lot to her. He was always the nicest person to her, no matter how nice or mean she was to him. It was funny though, because when ever she was in a bad mood and bitching off to Troy, he would always laugh at her and make her laugh too. He was really good at coming up with jokes that she couldn't help but burst out in laughter at. That was one thing he was great at: making her smile and laugh. It was something only he could do, and everyone knew that.

The pain in her ankle though was becoming too much for her to handle and she couldn't help but scream out in pain every three seconds. All she could do was pray that Troy would find her and find her really fast, because she didn't know how much longer she could handle this pain.

Troy on the other hand was still screaming out her name and begging for a response. It was now getting dark because it was late and not just because of the huge storm that was over their heads. Thankfully, there was no thunder and lightning yet, so he still had some time before he really needed to start freaking out, if that was even possible.

Feeling like all hope was lost, Gabriella turned her head to the side and buried the side of her face in the dirt. Lying next to her face were numerous medium size rocks that seemed to be calling her name, when she finally got an idea and sprang up from her laying down position. Ignoring the throbbing ache and sharp pains all throughout her body and ankle, Gabriella stretched her arms to the side and grabbed as many rocks as she could possibly gather from her sitting position. All in all, she had a few dozen rocks that would be a piece of cake for her to pick up and throw.

Not too far away from her was a few larger, almost bulldozer size rocks that could be any easy target for her. She decided that she would try and hit them with the smaller rocks that she had found and hope that it would make a large enough sound for someone, particularly Troy, to hear.

Putting all of her strength and determination behind her, she catapulted her arm forward and let go of the rock in her hand. It hit the boulder square in the center, sending off a large and deep sound.

'Yes! Oh thank god.' Having gained this new feeling of hope, Gabriella kept on throwing rocks over and over again and harder every time.

Troy on the other hand still hadn't stopped running and could no longer feel any part of his body from the freezing cold rain that was washing over him. He was dying knowing that Gabriella was out here somewhere all by herself and freezing as well. All he wanted to do was take back everything he said and did, and just say how sorry he was for not leaving her alone and apologizing.

But how could he apologize if he didn't mean it? He wasn't sorry for being completely heartbroken that she had turned cold around him for three weeks. And he most definitely wasn't sorry for trying everything that he could think of to get her back.

His shaking body took over his senses and somehow he came to a halt and leaned over to rest his hands on his knees, breathing deeply. His heartbeat was going crazy and all he could hear in his ears was it beating, but there was also another sound. It was a type of beating too, but not from his heartbeat. It sounded strange almost, and rough too.

Troy's entire body sprang up from it's hunched over position and his mouth opened slightly. His head turned in all directions begging for that sound to continue. It stopped for a few seconds before it picked up again and kept going. 'Gabriella! Talk to me! Gabi!'

It was her, and he knew it. God, she was alive.

His feet picked up speed again as he started running in the direction that the sound was coming from, all the while screaming her name continuously and waiting for a response.

And a response was what he got.

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**AN: So this chapter was definitely weird, I'm not sure how I feel about it because I feel like it was a complete sidetrack of what should be happening. It was completely a filler. Sorry they weren't really together at the end and if you found it boring. Again, I don't know why I wrote this. I'm still not sure if I should have them become a couple or keep them best friends. Opinions anyone? Thanks so much for the reviews and support of this story, it means a lot. Go check out my other stories and my in-progress one, ****I'd Lie****. Review!!**

**And if any of you are fans of me and xoLAILAIxo's story, ****Men or Money****, we just posted Chapter 3 today, so go check that out!! And sorry for the long wait.**

**Up Next: A knight in wet armor. ( Hopefully you all got that ; )**

**FiFi xoxo**


	4. Breathe

**A/N:** So it's been like what, twelve years since I've updated this story? Well, surprise surprise, here is the last chapter for you to conclude the short, but successful run of Losing Her Grace. I really appreciate all of your patience and support; it means the world to me and it's the reason why I'm finally updating it.

I did a lot of research for this chapter, but I'm no doctor nor will I ever be, and this is Fan_Fiction_, so don't criticize me on how accurate or inaccurate the information I provide is. Thanks!

On a different note, it would mean the world to me if you checked out my new story **You, Me and the Stars**. It's going to be a long story (25+ chaps) and it has so many different aspects to it. There's cancer involved, a new love forming, two children to take care of, and dealing with the death of a loved one (not Troy or Gabi). Troy & Gabi have to raise Gabi's two cousins (age 5 & 7) all by themselves and things get complicated. This story is much like my story Enough Is Enough in the fact that it's more sexy & flirty, instead of innocent & fluffy. Things don't start to heat up though until about chapter 7 or 8, so you have to give it a chance! I'd love for that story to become such a huge success like Hidden Desire, so please check it out!

Also, I've started my own _Vanessa Hudgens forum_, called **Miss Vanessa Hudgens Forums**, and I'd be honored if you'd join! There is a link in my profile, please don't be shy, everyone's welcome!

I've since updated and finished my story Enough Is Enough, and put up a Two-Shot called A First For Everything, and wrote a great story called I'd Lie. Check them all out and review, and please review for this last chapter too!

Thank you again! Review!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you'd recognize, nor anything relating to HSM.

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**Losing Her Grace**

**Chapter 4 – Breathe**

His body had never moved so fast in his entire life. He didn't care about the pain, or the aches. He didn't even feel anything. He just felt his heart breaking; he felt his regret and his sorrow. He felt her pain and her struggles. He felt his anger at himself for having ever let this happen in the first place. He was the only person to blame in this situation, and he would never forgive himself.

The rain was still going, and if it was possible, it was coming down even harder. He felt his entire body come to a screeching halt though as her drenched and weakened body came into his view.

"Gabi" he whispered under his breath before his feet picked up speed again and he reached her. "Oh my god, Gabi, I'm so, so sorry, I just-" He couldn't even finish his words as he lifted her body into his arms and held her to him, praying some of his body heat would connect with her.

She was shivering and her lips had turned purple, as had some of her face. Her normally dark and irresistible chocolate brown eyes were no longer wide and perky, but rather weak and barely staying open.

The wind was whipping all around them and through them, with the rain still pounding on their bodies. Noticing her fragile state, Troy forced his body to muster up all the energy it could and he brought himself to his feet with her weak body in his arms.

He knew the walk back was going to be torture, but she was worth it.

What felt like every other second, Troy couldn't stop his eyes from wandering down to her distressed body. The sight beneath him scared him, and he was starting to wonder if she was even conscience, so he decided to talk to her.

"Gabi? Gabs, please wake up… please?" He sighed. "If you can hear me, but you can't talk, just hit me or something, do something…anything…please?"

He waited. And nothing came.

"Oh God."

Troy's head spun in every direction possible searching for God only knows what as he kept his legs moving forward at the same time. His car was maybe 15 – 20 minutes away walking distance.

His eyes went from her face to the path in front of him, wincing at what he knew was to come. But he had to do it and he had to pull through; for Gabriella.

With the rain falling on his body, the sweat dripping down his skin, his muscles burning within him, and his heart broken, he held Gabriella as close to him as he could and picked up his pace. It was a hard run, worse then sprints or any basketball drill, but he did it and he did it with determination in his eyes.

Troy would never complain during any sprint he ever did for the rest of his life. It was now a piece of cake in his eyes.

Every second Troy was glancing down at the weak and limp body in his arms, praying that she would open her perfect eyes any second. But she never did.

When his car finally came into view he screamed out in happiness and ran that much faster. His body hit the car to stop himself from his painful run and he immediately opened the passenger side door and laid Gabriella's body inside, immediately stripping her body of her drenched clothes, and praying she didn't kill him for it later, before he ripped his shirt off of his body and laid it over her own, hoping it would help somewhat. He spotted his letterman jacket in the back seat along with a pair of basketball sweat pants and he dove for them. His hands shook as he carefully covered her shaking and white body with his clothes. After fastening her seatbelt, he slammed her door shut and sprinted to the driver's side, quickly flinging open the door and jumping inside.

"Hold on Gabs, just… just hold on baby," ordered Troy as he jammed his key in its rightful hole and started the cars engine, not taking time to wait for it to warm up and immediately putting his car in reverse, before throwing it in drive and flooring the gas pedal.

He reached his right hand over to her still limp body and grabbed a hold of one of her hands, doing his best to lace their fingers together. Troy's face was now pale white with worry, his eyes drained and his heart holding onto hope. His knuckles were pained as they had a death grip on the stirring wheel glowing with a white color. His nails were making their mark as they dug into the leather fabric.

The other hand that was attached to his shaking body was much softer, but his grip would never give up either. There was no movement from the other hand in his own, and he couldn't even begin to explain how scared he was.

He had come to a paved road by now and the speed limit sign flew by him without a glance from the teenager. All he could do was pray that there weren't any cops out at that moment.

Turn after turn only made the ride to the nearest hospital seem even longer, but when the blue signs came into his view, he thought he was going to scream.

"We're here baby, everything's going to be okay now, you're safe and I'm going to get you help and all warmed up, just hang on a few more minutes, can you do that for me? Please? Common Gabi, just squeeze my hand," begged Troy.

And once again, he got nothing.

The tires of his car made a mark on the black tar beneath it as Troy came to a screeching halt and quickly put his car in park, before he rushed over to Gabi's door where he threw it open, unbuckled her seat belt, and lifted her wet body into his strong arms. Kicking the door shut with his foot, Troy once again picked up his pace and ran to the ER doors that weren't too far away from him. Automatically, they sprang open after sensing Troy's presence.

"Doctor! I need a doctor! Help!" screamed Troy as he ignored all of the stares from the adults and children sitting in the waiting area. Instead he went straight to a nurse that had sprung up from her seat behind her desk as she ran to get a rolling bed.

"What happened?" she questioned anxiously.

He didn't know where to begin.

"I took her out to Navajo Lake so we could talk. She's been ignoring me for a whil-" the look on the nurses face told him to fast forward through the personal crap and get to the point. "Anyways, we were both upset, and we got into an argument and she ran away from me, and then it started to rain. She ran pretty fast and I couldn't find her, but when I did she was collapsed on the ground and barely conscience. I picked her up and ran her back to my car, and by that time she wasn't talking or moving. I changed her into some dry clothes that I had in the back of my car and drove her as fas- as safely- as I could."

"Her name?"

"Gabriella Montez."

"Doctor Cohan! Possible hypothermia patient, in need of immediate medical treatment!"

A tall and thin man who looked to be in his forties rushed over to them and immediately started to examine Gabriella.

"Name?"

"Gabriella Montez," replied Troy easily.

"Age?"

"16"

"Medical history?"

"She's allergic to chlorine and that's all. She broke her bone when she was seven, her father died from kidney failure when she was one, and her mother's in good health."

"What happened to make her like this?"

"We were out at Navajo Lake and she ran away from me. It started to rain and I couldn't find her, but when I did she was laying down on some rocks, barely conscience. I think she hurt her ankle too."

The next thing that Troy knew, doctors and nurses were swarming them and Gabriella's bed started to move while people screamed orders.

"Temperature 89.7°F, weak pulse, suggest active core rewarming to take place stat. Nurse Shelby, get a dosage of thiamine ready to distribute immediately. Let's get her to a room to work on her. Let's go people!"

And just like that her body was ripped away from him and he watched the doctors and nurses run with her bed down the hallway. The only one that was left was the nurse he first met when he ran into the hospital.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't get your name," said the nurse.

"Troy, Troy Bolton."

"Not Montez?"

"No, but I'm her...her boyfriend. She only has a mother for family and she's in a major business meeting for four days in Santa Fe. I'm all Gabriella has."

His eyes were still staring straight ahead seeing nothing but his best friends body being taken away from him, not knowing if he'd ever see her alive again.

"Mr. Bolton, if you'll follow me I'll show you where you can wait."

"Where are they taking her? What are they doing to her?" Troy spat out.

"Just follow me and I'll explain," ordered the nurse.

They walked to a dimly lit room that was currently vacant and quiet. Troy sat down and the nurse followed suite.

"Gabriella is in a state of hypothermia right now, and the doctors are going to do their very best to warm her up. They said her temperature was 89.7°F, which clearly is very bad. They're going to perform a process on her called active core rewarming and administer thiamine to her body."

"What... what does all of that mean?" stuttered Troy.

"Active core rewarming is the most effective way to rapidly increase her core temperature. It's a process that avoids many of the dangers associated with her type of condition. Doctors use this process when their patients body temperature is below 89.9°F, when their heart is unstable and when the patient is rewarming too slowly. They'll most likely perform this process by placing a breathing tube in her or by putting a closely fitted oxygen mask on her face, and warmed, humidified air is administered. I mentioned earlier that the vitamin thiamine will be administered into her body via an I-V also."

"When will I get to see her?"

"As soon as the doctors are finished working on her, they'll come and find you and give you an update on her status and you can ask them then. I have to get back to my desk now, but you know where I am if you need me, okay?"

Troy just nodded his head before giving her a soft thank you and dropping his head down into his hands. He was in so much shock by that point. If he had know when he first kidnapped Gabriella from her bedroom that she would end up in the hospital later that night, he would have never done it. Instead he would have just tied her to a chair. But he needed to get her out of her house and somewhere where they could both breath. Unfortunately, his plan didn't exactly go as planned.

It felt like hours before a doctor walked into the waiting area and he discussed everything that had happened to Gabriella again. The doctor then informed Troy that she was sleeping at the moment, but that he could go and sit with her, and that Gabriella would have to stay in the hospital until tomorrow afternoon.

Troy let out a huge sigh of relief after the doctor left and somehow got up to his feet. Room 329 the doctor had said. After exiting the waiting room, Troy turned right and walked down some long and bare hallways before seeing the small black sign on the door that read 329, with the words Montez, Gabriella written on a piece of paper below it. His hand found the handle and he turned it downwards, praying that he wouldn't break down at the sight of Gabriella's body in front of him.

She didn't look as bad as when he brought her in; some color was returning to her face and her body was covered in blankets. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she looked just like a baby.

Walking over to the chair besides her bed, Troy found his hands were shaking. He pushed his nerves and fears aside though and sat down in the chair before bringing his hand up to her delicate face.

"God, I was so scared Gabs. You have no idea..." he whispered.

Her body still didn't move and Troy was coming to hate seeing her not moving. He just needed to feel her fingers lace with his, or see her chocolate eyes stare into his blue ones, or see her body shake when she laughed, he just wanted to see her radiate with happiness and life.

"This is all my fault, and I know you'll say that it isn't, but it is. I pushed you Gabs, I pushed you way too far. It's just... I didn't know how to handle the fact that the one person in this world that I can't live without can clearly live without me. I was broken, and I needed to fix that."

"How could you say something like that?" came in a soft whisper next to him.

Troy's head immediately snapped up from it's current gaze at the tiled floor beneath him and landed on the chocolate colored eyes he had been begging to see for hours now. A smile graced his face and he jumped up from his seat to wrap his arms around her snuggled frame.

"Oh God Gabs, I thought you were gone," he whispered in her ear.

"Where am I?" asked Gabriella after Troy pulled away.

"You're at the hospital. I found you after you had run away from me. You were a wreck, and eventually you stopped responding to me, so I ran you back to my car and drove as fast as I could here. You're suffering from hypothermia."

A look of shock covered Gabriella's face. "Wow. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. You're alive and breathing, and that's all I care about right now," confessed Troy.

There was a moment of silence before Gabriella found her voice again. "I can't live without you in this world Troy, and I'm so sorry that I gave you the impression that I could," whispered Gabriella.

Troy lifted his hand to Gabriella's own hand and laced their fingers together, encouraging her to continue.

"I really mean that with everything that I have Troy. Life without you in it is too painful, and I never want to go a day where I don't see your face or hear your voice. I really screwed up these last few weeks, _really_ screwed up, and I want to explain. If you'll let me that is."

"Although I'm pretty pissed at the way you've treated me, I'd never shut you out Gabi, and I'd never not let you tell me your side of things. It takes two people to make a relationship work; two sides to every story and everything that happens. I'd never not let you tell me your side."

"A... a relationship?" asked Gabriella hesitantly.

A blush rose to Troy's cheeks and his empty hand rose to the back of his neck where he rubbed it nervously. "Well... you know... so, do you want to explain?" Troy just needed the topic to change immediately.

The smile on Gabriella's face fell and she let out a deep breath.

"I met my Dad's mother three weeks ago," stated Gabriella simply.

"Wait... what?" Troy's eyebrows burrowed together as confusion spread through his body.

"That's exactly what I said. It was a complete shock to me and I didn't know what to do. My mother wasn't around, and this lady literally shoved her way inside. She sat me down and just started blabbing away; sticking her nose into things that shouldn't concern her and things that aren't any of her business. I just sat in front of her with my mouth hung open, cringing at the attitude she gave me. Basically, she started to throw my future and college decisions down my throat, telling me that I wasn't up to her "expectations" at that point in my high school years, and if I expected at least a penny for my college education from her I needed to pick up my pace and get cracking. My mother and I have talked about paying for college in the past, and we knew that it was going to be a struggle and that I'd have to work hard to get scholarships. Not once did she mention this long lost grandmother and how she was planning to pay for my college education. I was just... I felt like I had been slapped in the face Troy and I didn't know what to do. Well, actually I did think I knew what to do, and that was to push myself harder in school. For her to say that what I have done so far in high school, every sleepless night of studying, every late night working on a project, every A that I've gotten on all of my tests, it was all for nothing. That's what I felt like she was saying to me, and I was broken. I was shattered."

Troy just looked at her with sorrow and sympathy in his eyes. "You could have told me Gabi, I would have understood. And that fact that you didn't think that I would breaks my heart. I thought you knew me better than that."

Gabriella's eyes flew up to meet the breaking blue in front of her. Hearing him sound so sad and unsure of their "relationship" broke her heart. "Troy, I didn't think that at all. It's just... it's _my_ future, not yours, and I didn't want to drag you down in my mess."

"Gabi, your future isn't a mess, and if that's what your grandmother told you than screw her. She knows shit. You're the smartest girl I know, the most dedicated and persevering student at East High, and the most caring, loving and sweetest friend I could ever have. Do you know how many girls at East High are jealous of you? And not just for your role in my life, but for all that you have to offer to this world. You're incredible Gabi, and I'm not just saying that. And the fact that your grandmother doesn't see that says a lot about her. She doesn't know _you_, she doesn't see all that you have and know all of your potential, and that's simply her own fault."

Tears were streaming out of Gabriella's eyes and down her pale cheeks, but were stopped by the soft pads of Troy's thumb. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face and even giggled a little when she felt Troy come closer to her and rest his forehead against her own.

"I'm sorry for screaming at you earlier, and for running away, and for neglecting and ignoring you for the past three weeks," whispered Gabriella right into Troy's face.

"You say it like I'm your dog."

"Well, you are, didn't you get the memo?" joked Gabriella.

"I don't want to be your dog," whispered Troy with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"...what do you want to be?" asked Gabriella hesitantly.

"I want to be yours," whispered Troy back against her face.

For a few seconds, Gabriella thought that her heart had stopped beating and that the world was sitting still. Not once, never ever, not in a billion years, did she ever think nor expect Troy to say that. But she loved it. The way it sounded, the way he said it, it was perfect. And she just prayed that he actually meant it.

Before she had a chance to respond or question what he had just said, her line of vision became much darker and she felt her body automatically shut her eye lids, and the beautiful feeling of Troy Bolton's lips on her own overcame her entire body.

It was like heaven.

Only better.

It was soft and sweet, meaningful and passionate. It started slow but soon went to the next level and Gabriella found herself drowning in his kisses. There was no where else in the world that she would rather be, and her cold and numb body seemed to heat up immensely. Troy let his left hand leave her own hand and run up her body ending on her face where he held her face to his own. They explored each other's mouths, all the while wondering why they hadn't done this a long time ago.

When the need for air overwhelmed them both, they slowly and tantalizingly pulled their lips apart, resting their foreheads against one another.

"I'm sorry," whispered Gabriella.

"You're forgiven," whispered Troy back, knowing exactly what she was sorry about.

"Thank you," whispered Gabriella again.

"For what?"

"For sticking by me, for being with me, for wanting to be mine, for saving me."

Troy's face lit up at the list of things she spoke of. "It's my job to do all of that for you. After all, that's what you do for someone you love."

Gabriella's eyes seemed to bug out at his last words and shock overtook her again. Troy just smirked before attaching their lips once more in a perfect kiss.

"I love you too," whispered Gabriella when they finally pulled apart again.

THE END

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**A/N:** There you have it, I really hope that this is an acceptable ending for this story and that it blends well with the rest of the story. Again, don't forget to check out all of my new stories and my new Vanessa Forum, and please join!!

All I ask is for _one last review_ for this story, is that too much? I'm recovering from a surgery that I had yesterday, so I could use something to make me smile! Thank you all again! Review!!

FiFi xoxo


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